Saudi banks combat illicit financing: Alinma CEO

Banks across Saudi Arabia are well-regulated and positioned to combat money laundering and terrorism financing, Al Arabiya TV has reported, citing CEO Abdulmohsen Al-Fares.

“Saudi Arabia’s inclusion in the proposed list of high-risk countries issued by the European Commission will have a very limited impact,” Al-Fares added.

Inclusion on the list came despite the adoption of legislations and procedures to combat money laundering and the terrorism financing, he said.

The EU decision is contradictory to recent global standards, Al-Fares indicated, highlighting that Saudi Arabia topped the Basel Anti-Money Laundering Index on the regional level in 2018.

“Alinma has a very limited exposure of around 2 percent to the European banks,” Al-Fares noted, adding that the EU decision would prolong the time required for completing measures related to the European banks.

“Saudi Arabia’s commitment to combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism is a strategic priority and we will continue to develop and improve our regulatory and legislative frameworks to achieve this goal,” Finance Minister Mohammed Al- Jadaan also recently stated.

The Kingdom was recently added to the European Commission's proposed list of "high-risk" countries.